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Bureau of Mines Information Circular/1987 



Remote Sensing of Mine Waste 



By C. M. K. Boldt and B. J. Scheibner 




UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 




Information Circular 9152 

U 



Remote Sensing of Mine Waste 



By C. M. K. Boldt and B. J. Scheibner 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
Donald Paul Hodel, Secretary 

BUREAU OF MINES 

David S. Brown, Acting Director 




Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: 






Boldt, C. M. K. (Christine M. K.) 

Remote sensing of mine waste. 




(Information circular ; 9152) 




Bibliography: p. 39. 




Supt. of Docs, no.: I 28.27: 9152. 




1. Spoil banks- Remote sensing. 1. Scheibner, Barbec J. 
circular (United States. Bureau of Mines) ; 9152. 


II. Title. III. Series: Information 


TN295.U4 [TN292] 622 s 


[622] 86-600407 



CONTENTS 

p age 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 2 

Aerial monitoring 2 

Study 1 2 

Description of work 2 

Equipment and instrumentation 5 

Results 5 

Recommendations 9 

Study 2 9 

Description of work 10 

Results 14 

Recommendations 18 

Remote data transmission 19 

Phase 1. — In situ instrumentation with remote data collection by telephone... 19 

Description of work 19 

Equipment and instrumentation 20 

Results 27 

Phase 2. — In situ instrumentation with satellite transmission of data 29 

Description of work 29 

Equipment and instrumentation 29 

Results 32 

Recommendations — phases 1 and 2 32 

Satellite imagery 33 

Description of work 33 

Equipment and procedures 35 

Results 36 

Recommendations 37 

Summary and conclusions 37 

References 39 

Bibliography 39 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

1 . Matrix of monitoring methods 3 

2. Convergent aerial flight scheme 6 

3. Typical exposure layout 7 

4. Ground target detail 7 

5. Orthophoto site map with contours 11 

6. Orthophoto with 100-f t grid 12 

7. Isometric displacement mesh 13 

8. Enlarged view of displacement vector plot 13 

9. Qualitative features distinguishable on an aerial photo 17 

10. Typical surface profile comparing 100-f t grid to favorable point readings. 19 

11. Lower Big Branch impoundment site plan 20 

12. Block diagram of remote instrumentation system 21 

13. Site instrumentation location 23 

14. Cross-section instrumentation location 24 

15. In-place inclinometer installation 25 

16. Piezometer installation 26 

17. Tiltmeter installation 27 

18. Electrical cable junction box 27 



ii 



ILLUSTRATIONS— Cont inued 



Page 



19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 



1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 



Water levels for piezometer 8-7 

Monitoring costs as a function of number of readings 

Data collection platform, solar panels, Yagi antenna 

System data flow 

Overall Landsat system 

Fort Green, FL, study area: derived from aerial photography , 

Fort Green, FL, study area: automated change detection 

Fort Green, FL, study area: manually interpreted 

TABLES 

Comparison of possible inspection programs , 

Initial costs of monitoring , 

Inspection costs per site 

List of sensors and locations , 

Cost analysis of manual and remote monitoring systems , 

Cost comparison of satellite and telephone data transmission 

Classification accuracy of methods used to study five waste areas , 



28 
29 
30 
31 
34 
35 
36 
36 



8 
9 
15 
22 
28 
33 
37 



UNIT 


OF MEASURE ABBREVIATIONS 


USED 


IN THIS 


REPORT 


A-h 


ampere hour 




in 


inch 


bps 


bits per second 




m 


meter 


ft 


foot 




St 


short ton 


h 


hour 




V 


volt 


ha 


hectare 




yr 


year 



REMOTE SENSING OF MINE WASTE 

By C. M. K. Boldt 1 and B. J. Scheibner 2 



ABSTRACT 

This report summarizes five separate Bureau of Mines contract studies 
on the use of aerial photogrammetry , satellite transmission of in situ 
instrumentation information, and satellite imagery to monitor and update 
mine waste embankment data. The equipment used, methods applied, re- 
sults, recommendations, and cost analyses are presented along with a 
bibliography of related investigations. 



' Civil engineer. 

o 

''Geologist. 

Spokane Research Center, Bureau of Mines, Spokane, WA. 



INTRODUCTION 



Remote sensing can encompass a broad 
spectrum of techniques including (1) pho- 
togrammetry, which uses aerial pho- 
tography to obtain cadastral surveys, 

(2) electro-optical systems, which trans- 
form electromagnetic radiation into elec- 
trical signals to produce images, and 

(3) imaging and nonimaging sensors, which 
measure an object's radiation (1_).3 Re- 
mote sensing, as it relates to mine waste 
embankment monitoring, is the gathering 
of information without direct human con- 
tact. This report concerns itself with 
aerial phot ogramme try and the use of sat- 
ellites either as a communications trans- 
mitter of in situ instrumentation data or 
for imagery. The studies discussed in 
this report (2, ^, _6-_8) were completed 
under contract with the Bureau of Mines, 
Spokane Research Center, Spokane, WA. 

Existing inspection techniques used by 
Mine Safety and Health Administration 
(MSHA) personnel consist of individual 
on-site visits. Typically, only a lim- 
ited number of sites per day can be in- 
spected owing to travel time requirements 
and the size or ruggedness of the ter- 
rain. Aerial photogrammetry allows in- 
spection of a number of sites and pro- 
vides documented, sequential evidence 
over time of an embankment 's surface 
changes, such as erosion, volume changes, 
and drainage maintenance; however, it may 
not always detect sites of minor ground 



movement. Satellite monitoring allows 
the embankment conditions data to be read 
on demand at even the most remote sites, 
but image detection resolution is lim- 
ited. Even with such limitations, remote 
sensing offers many advantages; there- 
fore, remote sensing studies were ini- 
tiated by the Bureau to determine their 
value for improving inspection techniques 
and monitoring effectiveness. 

This summary of remote sensing investi- 
gations is divided into three major sec- 
tions: Aerial Monitoring, Remote Data 
Transmission, and Satellite Imagery. In 
the "Aerial Monitoring" section, study 1 
describes the use and results of aerial 
photogrammetry on an actively moving 
landslide in Oregon and on two coal ref- 
use sites in West Virginia; study 2 used 
a different technique to monitor 15 coal 
waste sites in West Virginia and Ken- 
tucky. Under "Remote Data Transmission, " 
phases 1 and 2 describe the use and re- 
sults of various in-place instruments, 
such as inclinometers and piezometers, 
and the effectiveness with which their 
data can be transmitted from a remote 
site to a collection center anywhere in 
the country via satellite. The "Satel- 
lite Imagery" section assesses the effec- 
tiveness of using Landsat photos of mine 
waste locations to update and upgrade ex- 
isting mine waste inventory data. 



AERIAL MONITORING 



STUDY 1 

Since 1974, the Bureau of Mines has 
been interested in using remote sensing 
techniques to improve coal waste site 
monitoring capabilities (8). In 1974, 
the Bureau awarded a contract to CH2M 
Hill to look at the feasibility of devel- 
oping a fast, reliable, and effective 
method of measuring the stability of 
coal waste embankments by remote means. 
Various techniques were categorized and 



fer to items in the list of references at 
the end of this report. 



tabulated according to their ability to 
meet these requirements (fig. 1). Aerial 
photogrammetry was determined to be the 
most promising technique for monitoring 
coal waste embankments. 

Description of Work 

After the aerial photogrammetric method 
had been chosen, the technique was ap- 
plied to actual field conditions. To be 
able to obtain on-site measurements as 
well as the aerial photographs, it was 
necessary to have a site that was ac- 
cessible without disturbing production. 
Consequently, an active landslide near 



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Roseburg, OR, was selected as the primary 
site. Two stable coal refuse sites were 
selected for later evaluation. 

The landslide was monitored with 22 
targets situated on the actively moving 
surface and 13 targets acting as control 
points off the active area. All targets 
and control points were surveyed to 
first-order accuracy, and the coordinate 
system was determined with a least- 
squares computation. The site was moni- 
tored once a month from February to May 
1976 by comparing aerially derived co- 
ordinates for each target to actual sec- 
ond-order (±0.02 ft) ground surveys. Us- 
ing a higher order accuracy, 20% of the 
aerial system's coordinates were within 
±0.05 ft of the coordinates determined by 
ground surveys, 80% of the total read- 
ings were within ±0.10 ft, and 99% of the 
readings were within ±0.25 ft. 

Data from the Roseburg landslide indi- 
cated that aerial monitoring could work, 
on active, steep terrain; therefore, two 
coal refuse embankments in West Virginia 
were selected as the next evaluation 
sites. 

The Wharton refuse embankment is 500 ft 
high with a 1, 500-f t crest length and 
covers approximately 50 acres. It was 
built between 1956 and 1976 with aerial- 
tram-deposited material and contained an 
upstream pond. Thirty-six targets were 
installed and ground-surveyed on the em- 
bankment and at seven control points. 
During monitoring, 20 targets were de- 
stroyed by mine activity. Ground surveys 
were conducted at the beginning and end 
of the monitoring period. 

The Stirrat refuse embankment is 490 ft 
high with a 1, 700-f t crest length and 
covers approximately 40 acres. It forms 
an impoundment with 250 ft of freeboard 
and was constructed via aerial tram be- 
tween 1945 and 1970. Since 1970, mixed 
coal waste and fine slurry have been hy- 
draulically discharged behind the dam. 
Thirteen targets were installed on the 
embankment and at four control points. 
Stirrat was used as a regular inspection 
prototype. Ground surveys of targets 
were conducted only at the beginning and 
end of the monitoring period to determine 
if any had moved during the 6-mofith 



period of monitoring, July through De- 
cember 1976. 

Equipment and Instrumentation 

The aerial monitoring technique incor- 
porated the least-squares computation for 
calculating ground coordinates of targets 
on an embankment from measured coordi- 
nates of their images on three overlap- 
ping aerial photographs. The flight of 
the fixed-wing, low-altitude aircraft 
used vertical and, for more accuracy, 
convergent photographs (fig. 2), as op- 
posed to the more conventional, vertical 
only, 60% overlap photographs. 

Typical flight lines were developed to 
optimize mapping accuracy of coal refuse 
sites (fig. 3). Ground targets 11 in. in 
diameter, painted nonref lecting white and 
with an anchor pipe, afforded high visi- 
bility (fig. 4). However, these targets 
would be unsuitable in winter snows. 

Other equipment used during the study 
included — 

1. Wild RC-8, 4 6-in focal length map- 
ping camera with a 9- by 9-in format 
size. 

2. Monocomparator which measured X 
and Y image coordinates to the nearest 
1 x 10~ 6 m. 

3. Optical stereoscope to gather qual- 
itative information from the aerial pho- 
tographs; for example, cracks, bulges, 
slumps, erosion, and seeps. 

4. Fixed-wing aircraft. 

5. Minicomputer to reduce data points 
to coordinates. 

6. Kodak Double-X Aerographic 2405 
(estar base) black and white (B4W) film. 

7. Kodak Aerochrome Infrared 2443 (es- 
tar base) color infrared (CIR) film. 

Results 

The data and results of this aerial 
monitoring effort are described in more 
detail in the full report (8) ; however, 
the significant factors that must be con- 
deference to specific products does 
not 'imply endorsement by the Bureau of 
Mines. 



Left convergent Right convergent 

photo Vertical photo photo 




FIGURE 2.— Covergent aerial flight scheme. 



sidered when using aerial monitoring 
of waste embankments are summarized as 
follows: 

1. Depending on the area to be moni- 
tored, the camera, and the flying height, 
the average scale of the aerial photo- 
graphs upon which all photogrammetric 
measurements were based was 1:4500 to 
1:5400. The maximum area encompassed by 
a flying height of 2,700 ft above the 
mean terrain would be 4,000 by 4,000 ft. 

2. The accuracy of producing topo- 
graphic contours from aerial measurements 
was 1:500 to 1:2000 of the flying height. 

3. B+W film needs no special storage 
consideration and is conducive to repro- 
duction. However, because of the eye's 
limited response to varying tones of 
gray, it is difficult to differentiate 
variations in, for example, vegetation 
and moisture. 



4. CIR film is sensitive to tempera- 
ture variations and humidity and must be 
kept in a refrigerator or freezer with 
adequate thawing out time prior to use 
to avoid moisture condensation during 
exposure. The color resolution also de- 
teriorates in poor weather, and the 
longer shutter speeds needed for low-sun- 
angle shots in the fall and winter cause 
blurred targets under magnification. 

5. Neither B+W nor CIR film proved 
clearly superior to the other for ei- 
ther quantitative or qualitative 
interpretation. 

6. The theoretical accuracy of 
1:35,000 for convergent photogrammetry 
was not achieved. 

7. The photogrammetric method of moni- 
toring produces a permanent, visual, and, 
most importantly, objective record of the 
site. 



Left 

convergent 

exposure 



Right 

convergent 

exposure 



Typical """ 
flight line 




Vertical 
exposure 



Typical 

perimeter of 

embankment 



LEGEND 

► Direction of flight lines 

• Aerial photograph taken at 
this location 

FIGURE 3.— Typical exposure layout. 



Flat washer 



Multiple-set expansion anchor 




3/4-in bolt by 1-1/2 in long 



11-in-diam aluminum disk, 
painted flat white 



1-in galvanized pipe by 3 ft long 
(additional lengths added by couplings) 



FIGURE 4.— Ground target detail. 



8. The cost of aerial monitoring 
ranged from 40% of conventional ground 
surveys on the Oregon landslide to 15% on 
the two coal refuse sites. 

9. Aerial monitoring costs were 175% 
to 300% more than costs of the current 
Mine Safety and Health Administration 
(MSHA) routine (table 1). 



10. Total costs for aerially monitor- 
ing a coal waste site would vary greatly 
depending on the number of sites to be 
monitored, the number of flights, the 
area to be covered, the target installa- 
tion, and the ground survey (table 2). 



TABLE 1. - Comparison of possible inspection programs (based on 1975-76 costs) 



Program 


Staff capability, 
embankments per month 
(3-member staff) 


Average cost 
per embankment 




60- 90 

3- 5 

90-130 

70-100 


$150-$200 




2,000-3,500 




350- 500 


D Combination, current methods and rapid 


230- 330 



^ased on data from MESA District 4 (now MSHA), 
2 Using 1 film type. 



Program A remarks: 



Program B remarks: 



1. Inspections are qualitative only. 

2. Written descriptions of conditions 

are recorded on standard forms. 

3. Possible unsafe conditions may be 

overlooked or misinterpreted be- 
cause of lack of physical measure- 
ments or lack of experience of the 
inspector. 

4. Economical. 



1. Capable of detecting and monitoring 

movement. 

2. Capable of mapping and determining 

quantities. 

3. Provides written record. 

4. Time consuming. 

5. Labor intensive. 

6. Costly. 



Program C remarks: 

1. Capable of detecting and monitoring 

movement. 

2. Capable of mapping and determining 

quantities. 

3. Provides permanent, visual record. 

4. Provides qualitative data. 

5. Economical in comparison with con- 

ventional ground survey. 

6. Enables experienced people to view 

(via photos) many embankments per 
month. 



Program D remarks: 

1. Capable of monitoring more embank- 

ments than current inspection 
methods. 

2. Provides qualitative information 

on all embankments and quantita- 
tive information on selected 
embankments. 

3. Inspections would allow for better 

allocation of field inspection re- 
sources for suspect embankments. 

4. Method would be more economical 

than rapid monitoring alone. 



HH 



TABLE 2. - Initial costs of monitoring 
(based on 1975-76 costs) 

Rapid monitoring system: 

Airplane $55, 000 

Aerial mapping camera 75,000 

Monocomparator 30, 000 

Total cost 160,000 

Conventional ground survey: 
Theodolites (2), at $5,000 

each 10, 000 

Engineer's level 1,500 

Electronic distance-measuring 

equipment 8, 000 

Miscellaneous equipment. 3, 500 

Total cost 23,000 

Certain disadvantages of the aerial 
monitoring technique became evident as 
the project proceeded: 

1. To achieve the accuracy desired, 
convergent photography was used. 

2. This type of photography required 
four flybys per site (three for conver- 
gent and one for stereo), and the accu- 
racy was dependent on the capability of 
the aircraft to tilt at a specified angle 
twice over each site. 

3. Movement on the embankment, indi- 
cating instability, could only be de- 
tected at the target itself. 

4. The targets, especially those 
placed on the embankment, were highly 
susceptible to damage and to surface 
movement due to construction activity, 
vandalism, or looseness of the embankment 
material. 

5. Aerial monitoring is also highly 
dependent on weather. 

6. Haze, cloud cover, snow, low sun 
angles, and other problems decrease accu- 
racy and hamper or preclude the ability 
to take photos. 

Recommendations 

As described in the full report (8^), 
the following procedures and conditions 



are recommended in order to obtain opti- 
mum results: 

1. More reliable results can be 
achieved if the camera is fixed on a ro- 
tating mount within the aircraft than by 
attempting to tilt the aircraft to obtain 
convergent angles. 

2. Ground targets should be a minimum 
of 1:2000 of the flying height above the 
mean elevation of the embankment to opti- 
mize monocomparator results. 

3. An accounting system to replace 
lost or damaged targets must be included 
in a monitoring scheme of this type. 

4. Control points should be surveyed 
after the flight lines are determined so 
that they can be located as near the four 
corners of the photos as possible. 

5. To obtain the best target read- 
ings, the aircraft should fly directly 
toward the face of the slope; that is, 
the flight lines should be perpendicular 
to the crest of the embankment. 

6. To obtain the best results for 
stereophotography, the flight lines 
should be parallel to the crest of the 
embankment. 

STUDY 2 

Study 2 of the Bureau's aerial photo- 
grammetric investigations began in 1979, 
monitoring 15 coal waste sites once a 
month for 10 months through seasonal 
changes (6^). This contract investigation 
was performed by Chicago Aerial Survey. 
The method for taking photos and the 
technique for obtaining elevations of the 
targeted site were different from those 
of the first aerial study. Specifically, 
this contract was intended to determine 
the best procedure, the level of accu- 
racy, and the costs of using aerial pho- 
togrammetry to monitor coal refuse dispo- 
sal sites in comparison with current MSHA 
inspection practices. 



10 



Description of Work 

In this study, large-scale, low-alti- 
tude, aerial photos were analyzed for 
vertical elevations through an analyti- 
cal stereoplotter. In this technique, a 
stereoplotter operator benchmarks known 
elevation coordinates on control targets 
surrounding the coal refuse site and thus 
can determine the elevation of any other 
point on successive orthophotos. This 
technique is not dependent upon targets 
being placed on the investigation site, 
as was the case in the first study. In- 
stead, control targets off the sites in 
question were ground-surveyed at the be- 
ginning of the monitoring period for ref- 
erence X and Y coordinates and eleva- 
tions. Use of such reference points out 
of the movement area was a distinct ad- 
vantage because they were not affected by 
any movement on the target area or by 
other disturbances such as construction 
activity. 

Fifteen coal waste sites in West Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky were monitored once a 
month for 10 months using B+W aerial pho- 
tography and four separate times using 
CIR. Four field inspections of the 
sites, using procedures similar to MSHA's 
inspection procedures, were made. The 
inspections familiarized the observers 
with the sites, enabling them to compare 
the results of the stereo and photogram- 
metric observations with ground observa- 
tions. The ground inspections were con- 
ducted on a seasonal basis, as was the 
CIR photography. This format allowed a 
determination of the effects of seasonal 
changes and the correlation of aerial to 
ground observations. 

Low-altitude flights were conducted 
over each site to obtain the aerial pho- 
tos. Because the refuse piles varied in 
size, various scales of photography were 
implemented to encompass each site with 
the surrounding ground control targets in 
a single stereoscopic model. The scales 
ranged from 1:5400 (1 in = 450 ft) to 
1:9000 (1 in = 750 ft), using flight al- 
titudes of 2, 700 to 4, 500 ft above the 
average terrain elevation. This scaling 
restriction limits the dimensions of the 
site to be monitored to 1,620 by 3,150 ft 



at 1:5400 and to 2,700 by 5,250 ft at 
1:9000. (The ground control targets out- 
side the refuse pile area must be in- 
cluded in the dimensions. ) 

From the aerial photographs, orthopho- 
tographs were produced. These are aerial 
photos of fixed scale in which all dis- 
tortions and displacements have been cor- 
rected (camera tilt, terrain-relief dis- 
placement, etc. ). The orthophotograph is 
then a scaled picture map on which one 
can directly measure distances and, when 
overlaid with contour information, pro- 
duce elevation readings at any point. 
Figure 5 shows an orthophoto flight map 
with topographic contours overlaid. The 
contours were generated from compilations 
of the stereoscopic models. 

X, Y, and Z coordinates were read off 
the aerial photos using an analytical 
stereoplotter. For this project, a grid 
system of 100-ft squares was optically 
overlain on the orthophoto, and coordi- 
nates were taken only on the cross grids 
for monthly comparison of movement (fig. 
6). 

Various configurations for displaying 
the produced data were attempted. One 
option consisted of computer listings of 
each grid point with values greater than 
5 ft highlighted. Another method graphi- 
cally displayed the displacement mesh 
isometrically, displaying vertical move- 
ment (fig. 7). The displacement mesh 
tended to exaggerate small amounts of 
movement. Also, it was very difficult 
to orient the isometric mesh with any of 
the photographic products (orthophotos, 
contact prints, etc. ) to indicate at a 
glance where the movement was occurring 
on the embankment itself. 

Another technique involved suppressing 
the line printer information and produc- 
ing a computer-drawn plot consisting of 
circular symbols which represented ver- 
tical movement. The type of symbol dis- 
played represented positive (upward) or 
negative (downward) movement. The diame- 
ter of the circles was proportional to 
the magnitude of the movement and was or- 
thogonal at the same scale as the ortho- 
photo. The movement values were printed 
next to the circles (fig. 8). 



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14 



Results 

A more detailed discussion of the in- 
vestigation, as well as complete data and 
results, may be found in the full report 
(_6). However, the following observations 
were considered significant factors to 
this type of monitoring: 

1. Sites of greater dimensions than 
that described would require either 
higher altitude photography or additional 
models. Higher altitude photography 
would lose resolution of ground features, 
decreasing the accuracy of the system. 

2. Aerotriangulation, necessary to 
combine the coordinate systems of sepa- 
rate models into one model, introduces 
deviations in horizontal positions, which 
are extremely difficult to maintain or 
reconstruct in precisely the same way 
month after month. 

3. Useful aerial photography was dif- 
ficult to acquire on a monthly basis, 
since the area (eastern Kentucky and 
southwestern West Virginia) has below- 
average weather conditions for year-round 
flying, and acceptable sun angles (30° 
or higher above the horizon) are at 
best available for 5 h daily (9:30 a.m. 
to 2:30 p.m.) in June, dropping to 2 h 
(11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) in December. 

4. Because of the great differences in 
high and low elevations on the piles and 
because of the normally steep slope on 
the downhill side, low sun angle causes 
unusually long and very black shadows. 
Crevassed or eroded areas filled with 
deep, black shadows make precision ele- 
vation readings nearly impossible to ac- 
quire in any stereoplotter. 

5. Sites situated on the northern 
slopes of hillsides or mountains are to- 
tally in shadow during the winter months. 
This reduces photo definition by lowering 
image contrast. 

6. Snowfall immediately prior to an 
aerial survey made it necessary to expose 
and paint some of the control targets 
black and white. 

7. Forward overlap of 90% in the pho- 
tography ensured the least amount of fly- 
ing by helping to maintain complete 
stereo coverage. 



8. A flight altitude of 1,800 ft 
above the mean terrain will produce opti- 
mal photography at an average scale of 
1 in = 300 ft and expected spot elevation 
readings as precise as ±0.15 ft, using a 
stereoplotter with a C-factor rating of 
3, 000 or greater. 

9. Vegetation can be a serious prob- 
lem. By the end of the summer, identifi- 
cation of field control points was ex- 
tremely difficult, and even impossible at 
some of the sites, because the vegetation 
had overgrown the targets. Also affected 
were photo identification features used 
as control points, such as bases of util- 
ity poles. The memory function of the 
stereoplotter allowed the operator to 
eliminate sending supplemental field 
crews to the sites. Auxiliary control 
points were derived from the stereo model 
using points visible despite the vegeta- 
tion. These points were then used to 
control successive stereo setups in the 
following months. 

10. Erosion is easily seen on aerial 
photos, and its severity is also general- 
ly apparent. However, flattened vegeta- 
tion can give an erroneous impression of 
serious erosion. 

11. Tension cracks are generally not 
apparent in the photos. Cracks are some- 
times visible when enhanced by erosion, 
deposits left from condensation of vola- 
tiles, or scarps. Scarps having more 
than 3 in of vertical displacement are 
visible on barren piles. The slumps as- 
sociated with scarps are generally visi- 
ble on the photos whether or not vegeta- 
tion is present. 

12. Using enlargements, seepage can be 
seen on barren piles as darker areas on 
the refuse. On vegetated piles, seepage 
is sometimes hidden by the vegetation. 
In other instances, seepage may be in- 
dicated by the vegetation having been 
washed away or by abundant growth. 

13. Aerial photography is an excel- 
lent method for monitoring diversion 
ditch systems and water impoundments be- 
cause an entire system can be viewed 
simultaneously. 

14. Actual lift heights cannot be de- 
termined from photos alone. This can 
cause problems because MSHA requires that 



15 



refuse piles be constructed in compacted 
layers that do not exceed 2 ft in thick- 
ness, unless otherwise approved. 

15. Equipment tracks observed in the 
photos on spread refuse can indicate that 
some compaction has taken place, although 
the actual degree of compaction cannot be 
determined. 

16. Stereophoto analysis can be used 
to detect changes in slope; however, the 
angle of the slope is not obtainable from 
the photos alone. 

17. CIR photography can, at times, 
provide more information than B+W prints. 
Iron staining appears as a greenish hue 
in well-exposed CIR photographs. The CIR 
also has better resolution under high 
magnification. Seasonal variation in 
conditions, particularly vegetation and 
s-now, affect visibility of features, 
sometimes hiding them but sometimes high- 
lighting them. 

18. Photogrammetry (fig. 9) can be 
used to answer many of the questions 



on the MSHA report form. The photogram- 
metric system used in study 2 is best for 
locating surface movements involving 
large areas because a 100-ft grid can 
easily miss movement occurring in areas 
between intersection points. 

19. Orthophotos with contours can be 
used to determine slope, initially from 
the contours and later by adding changes 
in elevation from the computer plots. 

20. Deposition is visible on the 
orthophotos. 

21. Air photo analysis and photogram- 
metry do not completely answer all of the 
questions on the MSHA inspection form. 

The advantages and disadvantages of us- 
ing aerial photointerpretation in moni- 
toring coal waste sites are listed on the 
next page. Table 3 tabulates cost esti- 
mates for aerial monitoring of coal waste 
sites as compared with MSHA inspection 
techniques. 



TABLE 3. - Inspection costs per site (based on 1980 costs) 



1 site 



Labor Direct Total 



2 sites 



Labor Direct Total 



10+ sites 



Labor Direct Total 



PHOTOGRAMMETRIC METHOD 



Ground control targeting 


1,600 


400 


2,000 


1,600 


400 


2,000 


1,600 


400 


2,000 


Photographic flights using 

Color infrared film in ad- 
dition to black and white 
(assumes a dual-camera 
aircraft or interchange- 
Photo lab 


25 
80 


17 

80 

20 
40 

46 



140 

10 
23 

120 

25 





25 
220 

10 
40 

200 

45 
40 

46 


25 
60 


16 

80 

20 
40 

46 



110 

8 
22 

120 

25 





25 
170 

8 
38 

200 

45 
40 

46 


25 
50 


15 

80 

20 
40 

46 



100 

8 
22 

120 

25 





25 
150 

8 
37 


Photogrammetry contours 
Data processing (including 


200 
45 




45 


Aerial photo interpretation 


46 


Total, recurring costs 


308 


318 


626 


287 


285 


572 


276 


275 


551 



GROUND INSPECTION METHOD 



MSHA site inspection. 



450 



20 



470 450 



20 



470 450 



20 



450 






x Survey costs represent a 1-time expense of $2,000 per site, which will not in- 
crease or change as monitoring time is extended. 

2 Average maintenance costs per monitoring flight (variable). Locations with light 
or no snow require little or no target maintenance during winter months. Heavy brush 
must be cut during summer or autumn months. 



16 



Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Aerial Photointerpretation 
in Monitoring Coal Waste Sites 



Advantages 

Rapid return of interpretable data. 

Results are "time-frozen" - the aerial 
film preserves a record of the site at 
the time of flying. The film can be re- 
set in a stereoplotter at any time to 
verify derived data relative to monitor- 
ing. This becomes more of an advantage 
over a period of time, when not only data 
from consecutive monitoring periods can 
be compared, but also data from monitor- 
ings months or years apart. New types of 
data may also be determined from earlier 
photography. 

Aerial monitoring reduces field time. 

Aerial monitoring provides the inspector, 
through typical stereoplotting instru- 
ments, the opportunity to measure any or 
every visible point on the embankment 
surface. 

Aerial monitoring offers reliable rela- 
tive measurements economically. 

Minimal ground survey is required for 
cpntrol of the photography. 

Accuracies of ground readings can be a 
function of the photogrammetric equip- 
ment, typically ranging from 1:2000 to 
1:4000, or the aircraft altitude. 



Disadvantages 

Sufficient targets of photoidentif iable 
control points are required for use in 
controlling the stereo model setup; how- 
ever, inaccessibility of many sites and 
activity on and around the sites make the 
targets vulnerable to disappearance and 
destruction. 

Accuracy of elevation readings was dis- 
appointing. Accuracy problems are en- 
countered due to lack or loss of control 
points, terrain slope, vegetation growth, 
shadows, atmospheric conditions, enforce- 
ment of readings at specific locations, 
or any combination of these. 

The 100-ft grid readings are not suffi- 
cient to define true surface characteris- 
tics of the pile. Predefined grid inter- 
section points present only comparison 
readings at these points. High and low 
surface points (peaks and valleys) are 
not well defined. 

The selection of stereo instruments is 
restricted to those with a large range 
of elevation-measuring capability because 
of the great differences in pile eleva- 
tion. Instruments should be equipped 
with 3-axis digital readout to facili- 
tate numerical model setup and stereo 
observation. 

The cost is greater than for on-site vis- 
its; see table 3. 



■■I 



17 







O 



o 





,-* 



£ 



LL 





o 

o 
a. 
« 
a 

(0 

c 

CO 

c 
o 



.a 

a 



II) 

t5 



a 

3 

o 

I 

an 
lil 

oc 

3 
O 




O 
© 

Ik. 

a 



o 




18 



Recommendations 

Based on the results from study 2 of 
the aerial monitoring investigation, the 
following recommendations are made: 

1. Monthly aerial analysis is not jus- 
tified; the minimal amounts of surface 
movement or change detectable from month 
to month suggest it is necessary to re- 
view surface conditions periodically, 
but semiannual aerial inspections seem 
to provide sufficient sampling of most 
stable sites. Inactive sites would gen- 
erally require less frequent aerial 
monitoring. 

2. Flights should occur at the lowest 
possible, nonhazardous altitude in order 
to take photographs that include one in- 
dividual site in a single flight line. 

3. Atmospheric conditions such as haze 
and cloud cover should be closely watched 
because they can greatly influence the 
photo resolution. 

4. All targets should be placed or 
made visible before each flight. 

5. Wherever possible, the surrounding 
embankment should be saturated with con- 
trol targets to ensure adequate reference 
point survival through the monitoring 
period. 

6. Trigonometric levels are sufficient 
for determination of target elevations. 
Because only a relative datum is impor- 
tant, spot elevations from U.S. Geolog- 
ical Survey (USGS) quadrangle maps may be 
used to provide a vertical datum. These 
should be as near to the corners of the 
stereo model as possible. 

7. Targets should be referenced by 
sketch and description to three physical 
objects to aid in accurate repositioning 
should panels be moved or destroyed. 

8. Once horizontal and vertical con- 
trols are determined for model setup (or- 
thophoto, stereophoto analysis), field 
personnel are not required for aerial 
procedures except for maintenance of the 
targets. 

9. Targets should be durable and se- 
curely anchored and may be of any shape 
easily recognizable in the aerial 
photographs. 



10. Consistent reconstruction of the 
original stereo model setup is the most 
critical operation in the photogrammetric 
procedures. It is essential that control 
points be sufficient in number and clear- 
ly visible at all times. 

11. Targets that were not survey- 
coordinated during field operations 
should be used as auxiliary control 
points. 

12. It is possible to use premarked 
auxiliary control points. These are 
points created by drilling tiny holes in 
the photo emulsion using a point marking 
and transfer device. These points can be 
transferred accurately from one month's 
flying to the next, as long as the images 
are compatible. 

13. Profiles should be determined 
transversely and perpendicularly to the 
crest of the embankments. Elevation 
points for these profiles should be taken 
at a maximum distance of 25 ft, using the 
"most favorable location for reading" 
technique. A minimum of three parallel 
transverse profiles should be determined 
for each embankment. Large embankments 
should have five of these profiles. In- 
formation derived from the profiles in- 
cludes determination of slope of the em- 
bankment face, determination of actual 
buildup on active piles, verification of 
trends noticed in examination of the ba- 
sic profiles, and slippage at the crest 
and buildup at the base of piles. 

Both studies 1 and 2 were based on ele- 
vations determined at specific locations 
on the surface of an embankment. Because 
of the unreliability of elevation read- 
ings, enforcing point-reading locations 
does not appear to be effective. 

A more effective system of surface 
definition would allow point selection 
by visual means, using a "most favorable 
location for reading" technique. That 
is, a stereoplotter operator reads points 
that he or she can see well to ensure 
precision and reliability of point read- 
ings. The operator would also be able 
to read an indefinite number of points, 
reading high and low spots and other 
points on the surface not farther apart 
than 25 ft. Figure 10 compares the 



^m^^m 



19 



fixed-grid method with the "most favor- 
able location" technique. Details of 



this system may be 
report (6). 



found in the study 2 



REMOTE DATA TRANSMISSION 



PHASE 1. - IN SITU INSTRUMENTATION WITH 
REMOTE DATA COLLECTION BY TELEPHONE 

In phase 1, a contract was awarded to 
Shannon & Wilson, Inc. (4_) , to develop 
and demonstrate an instrumentation system 
that could be wired to a remote data col- 
lection station for the purpose of cen- 
trally monitoring the stability and seep- 
age of one or more coal waste impound- 
ments. Costs of system installation and 
long-term monitoring were also deter- 
mined. Specifically, the instrumentation 
system was designed to remotely monitor 
horizontal and vertical deformation, 
pore-water pressure changes, pond-water 
levels, seepage through the embank- 
ment, and environmental factors such as 
rainfall, temperature, and barometric 
pressure. 



Description of Work. 



Factors considered in site selection 
were — 

1. Location in a populated area with 
high precipitation rates. 

2. Some certainty of measuring parame- 
ter changes such as deformation, water 
pressure, and fluid levels. 

3. Height of structure in the range of 
100 to 200 ft. 

4. Cooperation of mine owner and per- 
mission to use the waste impoundment. 

5. Electrical power and telephone 
available close to site. 

These particular factors were selected 
on the basis of the project requirements, 
the cost estimates made in the proposal, 



KEY 

Recorded profile 

True surface 

<< <$ Shadow area 

v Recorded point 





Profile by study technique 



^r 



Maximum 25' spacing 



^Y^^\r%r^\r^" 



Profile by recommended technique 

FIGURE 10.— Typical surface prof»« r<- sparing 100ft grid to favorable point readings. 




. 



20 



and the ability to best demonstrate the 
full capabilities of a remote monitoring 
system. 

The site selected was the Lower Big 
Branch Impoundment at Montcoal, WV, oper- 
ated by ARMCO Material Resources. It is 
a cross-valley coarse refuse embankment 
impounding about 5 acres of fine coal 
refuse slurry pumped 1 mile from the No. 
7 Mine preparation plant (fig. 11). Its 
height was about 190 ft (1,120-ft eleva- 
tion) and will eventually be raised to 
1,175-ft elevation. The Lower Big Branch 
Creek has been relocated to the south 
side of the impoundment and flows into 
March Fork Creek, which occupies the val- 
ley directly below the embankment. The 
topography of the area is relatively 
steep with heavily wooded hillsides. The 



local geology is composed of interbedded 
layers of sandstone, shale, and coal. 

Equipment and Instrumentation 

Available instrumentation was evalu- 
ated and selected for its capability of 
monitoring various parameters, its suit- 
ability to long-term measurements, and 
whether or not it was an electrical sen- 
sor amenable to automatic remote monitor- 
ing. A complete remote instrumentation 
system for monitoring the stability of a 
waste embankment was designed (fig. 12). 
Final instrumentation installed in the 
embankment included 7 vibrating wire pi- 
ezometers, 2 resistance piezometers, 3 
biaxial tiltmeters (2 sensors each), 3 
multiple-position borehole extensometers 



' — p — p— p— P __ 




Scale, ft 



LEGEND 

v///) Coarse coal refuse embankment area 

# New Shannon and Wilson boring 

O Existing borehole and piezometer 

— t— Telephone line 

— c— Trenched cable 

— p— Electrical power line 

FIGURE 11.— Lower Big Branch impoundment site plan. 



HM 



Parameter - 



Sensors 



Sig 



nal conditioning J 
and power 



Data acquisition 
and control device 



Communication link 



Off-site central 

station data 

monitoring and 

analysis facilities 

(in Seattle) 



21 



Piezometer 



Piezometer 
pond level 



Deformation tilt 



Rainfall seepegc 
extensometer 



Air temperature 



V ibr at ing- 
wire gaugos 



Resistance 
strain gaiyt 



itch box 



Inclinometers, 
accelerometerv 
and tilt meters 



External signal 
conditioner 



Potentiometers 



Sensor power 
supply 



Thermocouple 



Precision 
supply voltage 



A n a I o g-t o- 
digital converter 



Analog acquisition 

A ^- D c nversion 

Linearization and conversion 
to engineering units 

Digital acquisition 

Data output 
I I 



Input g a *. j < 
parameters 



schedule alarm demand I 



On-site pr 



-^VOV^TV 




Telephone lint 



Central station 
modem. 



1 ■ ■ 






1 


Terminal 






Computer 








' 








, 


, 




1 




i 




1 


1 


Printed output 




Plotted output 




Off-line storage 



FIGURE 12.— Block diagram of remote instrumentation system. 



(1 with 4 sensors, 2 with 2 sensors 
each), 1 uniaxial in-place inclinometer 
with 8 sensors, 1 fluid-level-monitor- 
ing device to measure seepage at the 
weir, 1 barometer, 1 rain monitor, and 2 
thermocouples, for a total of 21 instru- 
ments and 37 sensors (table 4, figures 
13-14). These instruments (figs. 15-17) 
were connected via two junction boxes 
(fig. 18) and buried cable to the auto- 
matic data acquisition system (DAS) 
located in a trailer at the test site. 
The DAS consisted of power conditioning 
equipment, a signal conditioning unit, 



and an Acurex Autodata 9 data logger con- 
nected to the telephone. Data were re- 
corded automatically at the site on paper 
tape and on request at the contractor's 
office via the telephone. The pond level 
sensor initially installed in the up- 
stream impoundment was destroyed early in 
the program when it was covered with 
coarse refuse as the embankment was being 
raised. Other instruments and data ac- 
quisition systems are discussed and com- 
pared in the report (4^» 

The goals of the field monitoring weie 
to collect -sufficient data to determine 



22 



TABLE 4. - List of sensors and locations 



Sensor, manufacturer, 
and model number 



Sensor 
No. 



Seri 
No. 



al 



Borehole 
location 



Elevation, 
ft 



Depth, 
ft 



Extensometer , multiple-position 
borehole, Slope Indicator, model 
51891. 



Fluid-level-monitoring device, 
Leupold & Stevens, model A-71. 

Inclinometer, uniaxial in place, 
Slope Indicator, model P/N50432. 



Piezometer, electrical resistance, 
Slope Indicator, model P/N 56442. 



Piezometer, vibrating wire, Irad 
Gage Co., model PW-100. 



Pressure transducer, Setra, model 
250. 

Rain monitor, Leupold & Stevens, 
model A-71. 

Thermocouple, Pyrometric Service, 
model type "T" thermocouple. 

Tiltmeter, biaxial, Slope Indica- 
tor, model P/N50327-1. 

Tiltmeter, biaxial, Terra Technol- 
ogy, model 85-2032. 



MPBX-l(l) 
MPBX-1(2) 
MPBX-1(3) 
MPBX-1(4) 
MPBX-2(1) 
MPBX-2(2) 
MPBX-3(1) 
MPBX-3(2) 

Weir 



II-l 
II-2 
II-3 
II-4 
II-5 
II-6 
II-7 
II-8 

RP-1 
RP-2 

Pond level 
sensor 

VWP-1 
VWP-2 
VWP-3 
VWP-4 
VWP-5 
VWP-6 
VWP-7 

Barometer 

NA 

TC-1 
TC-2 

TM-3(A) 
TM-3(B) 

TM-l(A) 
TM-l(B) 
TM-2(A) 
TM-2(B) 



L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 
L.P. 



1 

3 

4 

5 

7 

6 

10 

8 



98172 



021 
020 
022 
019 
017 
016 
018 
015 

41107 
41109 

41108 

14-2 
14-7 
14-6 
14-9 
14-3 
14-8 
14-1 

24174 

91871 

NA 
NA 

NA 

NA 

101 
101 
102 
102 



B-9 

B-9 

B-9 

B-9 

B-15 

B-15 

B-6 

B-6 

C 1 ) 



B-5 
B-5 
B-5 
B-5 
B-5 
B-5 
B-5 
B-5 

B-l 
B-7 

C 1 ) 

B-4 

B-l 

B-3 

B-7 

B-12 

B-13 

B-14 

( 2 ) 

( 2 ) 

( 2 ) 
( 2 ) 

B-8 
B-8 

B-ll 
B-ll 
B-10 

B-10 



978.8 
1,010.5 
1,044.9 
1,098.5 

942.9 
1,042.6 

946.7 
1,043.7 

NAp 



985.1 
993.1 
1,001.1 
1,009.1 
1,017.1 
1,025.1 
1,033.1 
1,041.1 

942.7 
1,013.8 

1,105 

1,015.2 
943.8 
1,002.7 
1,015.0 
942.8 
930.5 
920.0 

1,085 

NAp 

NAp 
NAp 

1,118.8 
1,118.8 

1,118.0 
1,118.0 
1,119.3 
1,119.3 



140.7 
109.0 

74.6 

21.0 
176.3 

76.6 
171.5 

74.5 

NAp 



134.2 

126.2 

112.2 

110.2 

102.2 

94.2 

86.2 

78.2 

176.9 
105.2 

NAp 

104.6 
175.7 
117.0 
104.0 
139.0 
125.7 
73.2 

NAp 
NAp 

NAp 

NAp 

2.0 
2.0 

2.0 
2.0 
2.0 
2.0 



NA Not available. NAp Not applicable. ^ee figure 11. 2 At instrument trailer. 



23 



Overflow decant 
area 




1 , 1 3 6 - f t - e le v a t i o n bench 



B-6 (MPBX-3) 



B-7 (VWP-4 and RP-2) 




nr u '*»"P^-»«»"uni <j /■ |,j.,j. r 

%l B-1 (VWP-2 and RP-D^B-3 (VWP-3) J 
""*T/ __ // DCp CJS-1v* 

CJS_2 v B . 15 (M PB7-irziiii^^- BX v ) '' 



B-8 (TM-3) 






LEGEND 

O Cable junction station (CJS) 

® Borehole with instruments 

MPBX Mutiple-position borehole extensometer 

VWP V ibrat ing-wire piezometer 

RP Resistance piezometer 

TM Tiltme ter 

Tl Traversing probe inclinometer 

II In-place inclinometer 

~~ Buried cable 

□ Data collection platform (DCP) 



20 
I 



40 

_l_ 



6 

_l 



Scale, ft 



FIGURE 13.— Site instrumentation location. 



24 



1,20 0,- 



> 
o 
n 
a 



VWP-2 and RP-1 
VWP-4 and RP-2 
MPBX-3 
TM-3 
Bench elevation 1,120 ft 



1,10 - 



_ 1,000- 



< 
> 
Ul 



HI 



900 




1 



200 



30 4 

DISTANCE, ft 



5 



6 



7 



LEGEND 

iln-place inclinometer with sensor 
locations (II) 

! Inclinometer casing for traversing 
probe (Tl) 

■i Multiple-position borehole extensometer 
^ with anchor locations (MPBX) 

i Vibrating wire piezometer or 
resistance piezometer (VWP or RP) 

B Tiltmeter (TM) 

FIGURE 14.— Cross-section instrumentation location. Derived in part from 1978 D'Appolonia report entitled "Modifica- 
tion to Existing Coal Refuse Disposal Facility, Lower Big Branch, Montcoal Raleigh Co., WV." (3) 



o o ° 
o o 

s\ r 


Coarse 
coal refuse 






.•-•.. 


Fine coal 
refuse 




Mixed coarse 


m 


and 


> 


fine refuse 

Approximate 
top of rock 



25 



Steel lid 



77Hfl~~ 



Corrugated metal 
pipe cover 



Portland cement and +-■. 

lime grout backfill 




Minimum 6-in boring 



Four grooves 
equally spaced 

Section A-A' 



Grout valve 



FIGURE 15.— In place inclinometer installation. 



26 




77m 

\ 

Backfilled cable trench 



1-to 2-ft-thick 
bentonite seal 



Sand or pea 
gravel backfill 



Corrugated metal 
pipe cover 



Site material backfill or grout 




Water-filled open standpipe 



Minimum 4-in-diam borehole 



S Tf 



2-in PVC casing slotted 

over lowermost 3 ft 
and wrapped with filter fabric 



Electrical piezometer 
sensor 



-.'■f 



Bottom cap 
FIGURE 16.— Piezometer installation. 



MMM 



27 




FIGURE 17.— Tiltmeter installation. 



Data were to be collected at 1- or 2-day 
Intervals. However, owing to various 
problems with the data logger, data had 
to be collected manually by calling the 
site to activate the instruments and take 
readings. Other problems included downed 
telephone lines, loss of the source of 
power from a nearby mine (a generator was 
substituted for a short time), damaged or 
nonfunctioing equipment, and site con- 
struction and maintenance activity. 

The data were processed by a DEC PDP 
11/34 minicomputer and plotted with pro- 
grams written specifically for this par- 
ticular sensor configuration. 

Results 

Complete data and results of this study 
are described in more detail in the con- 
tract report (4). Significant factors 
noted were — 




FIGURE 18.— Electrical cable junction box. 

the applicability and reliability of the 
system, to provide typical embankment 
data and some site-specific data, and to 
provide precursory data in case of an in- 
stability developing in the embankment. 



1. Despite numerous disruptions in the 
monitoring process which made it dif- 
ficult to obtain long-term continuous 
data (fig. 19), several events could be 
observed: 

A. Consolidation appeared to be 
occurring as the embankment was raised 
from the 1, 120-f t elevation to the 1,175- 
ft elevation and as the pond extended 
several hundred feet upstream. 

B. A 1. 1-in deflection occurred 
at an elevation of 1, 043 ft in the fine 
refuse in the embankment, probably owing 
to the additional fill added to the 
embankment. 

C. Pore-water pressures within the 
embankment remained relatively constant 
throughout the test. The piezometer lev- 
els ranged from 15 ft above bedrock in 
the old portion of the embankment to 
about the fine-coarse coal interface at 
1, 035-f t elevation. 

2. An approximate cost analysis for 
the system indicates that an automatic 
system is justified if the impoundment is 
monitored three times a week for 8 yr 
(table 5, figure 20). A manual system 



28 



Ground surface 
elevation 1,119 ft 



T^SV 1.0 



6 5 



Mixed coarse 
and fine refuse 



1,035 ft * 1,035 



Fine refuse 



1,055 



CO 1.045 



n 

£ 1,025 



Tip elevation * — 
1,014 ft TTiitf ^ 



O 

r 1.015 



> 

LU 

_l 1,005- 

LU 



995 - 



985 



l i i i i — i — i — i — i — i — r 




KEY 
o Water level indicator 

(manual ) 
o Vibrating- wire piezometer \i .c 

VWP-4 
A Resistance piezometer RP-2 

J I I 



JJASONDJFMAMJ JASONDJFMAMJ 
1979 1980 1981 

TIME 

FIGURE 19.— Water levels for piezometer B-7. 



TABLE 5. - Cost analysis of manual and remote monitoring systems 
(1982 costs) (4) 



Cost item 



Manual 



1 



Automatic 



System design < 

Capital (equipment, instruments, cable, etc.). 

Installation labor 

Subtotal installation costs , 

Maintenance costs 

Monitoring labor, per set 2 , 

Data processing labor, per set 2 

Data processing labor (1st year only)^ , 

Data interpretation 



$10,000 
62,000 
60,000 



per year. 



.per year. 



132,000 

2,000 

116 

58 

NAp 

10,000 



$20,000 
85,000 
73,000 



178,000 

20,000 

15 

NAp 

5,000 

10,000 



NAp Not applicable. 

^Manual costs calculated from automated system costs. 

2 Based on labor rate of $29/h. 

^No data processing labor costs after initial year of operation. 



NOTE. — All costs based on 37-sensor system. 



29 



would be economical for less frequent 
monitoring. A large number of instru- 
ments were used for this project to 
determine possible installation prob- 
lems and the long-term reliability of the 
various instruments on the market. Costs 
in a real situation would be lower be- 
cause only three to six instruments would 
be required. 

PHASE 2. - IN SITU INSTRUMENTATION 
WITH SATELLITE TRANSMISSION OF DATA 

In phase 2, a contract was awarded to 
Energy, Inc. (_7_), to demonstrate a self- 
contained satellite communication link 
and data collection platform (DCP) that 
remotely monitored the stability and 
seepage instrumentation located on the 
coal waste embankment at the Armco No. 7 
coal mine, Montcoal, WV. The costs, 
ease, and accuracy of data transmission, 



ir 

< 

LU 

>- 

cc 
w 
a. 

v> 
(3 

z 

Q 

< 
HI 

cc 
li. 

o 

V) 

I- 
w 
w 



cc 

LLI 

CO 

z 



400 



300 - 



200 




100 200 300 400 500 

TOTAL COST, 1 3 dollars 



600 



FIGURE 20.— Monitoring costs as a function of number of 
readings. Costs based on 37-sensor system with a total life of 
8yr. 



and maintenance and instrumentation prob- 
lems of phases 1 and 2 were compared. 

Description of Work 

Because the instrumentation from phase 
1 was already in place on the embankment, 
only the data collection and transmission 
system had to be selected and installed 
on-site, together with the instrument in- 
terface circuitry. The GOES East satel- 
lite was selected to relay data from the 
test site DCP to the user's terminal via 
the Command and Data Acquisition Station 
(CDA) and the Data Collection System-Data 
Processing System (DCS-DPS). The data 
were then reduced and plotted for study. 

Equipment and Instrumentation 

A Sutron 8004B DCP was selected because 
of its low power consumption, 16 analog 
or digital parameter inputs, and avail- 
ability. Additional equipment included a 
12-V storage battery, two Solarex 4200EG 
solar panels, and a six-element Yagi an- 
tenna. The DCP, solar panels, and anten- 
na were mounted on a support pole with 
the solar panels aligned for optimum 
solar illumination supply (fig. 21) and 
the antenna aligned with the GOES East 
satellite. 

The previously installed instrumenta- 
tion continued to monitor the coal waste 
embankment and its environmental charac- 
teristics. However, technical difficul- 
ties limited the final setup to 10 in- 
struments of 3 types — the weir, the rain 
gauge, and 3 multiposition borehole 
extensometers (1-4, 2-2, 3-2) — plus a 
thermocouple. A vibrating wire piezome- 
ter had also been planned, but the inter- 
face was continually nonfunctioning owing 
to line transient damage. 

To make this a completely self-con- 
tained communication system, the data had 
to be transmitted via satellite to a re- 
ceiving station. For this purpose the 
GOES East satellite was selected. It is 



30 




FIGURE 21.— Data collection platform, solar panels, Yagi antenna. 



31 



operated without charge by the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- 
National Earth Satellite Service (NOAA- 
NESS) (_5) for the acquisition of envi- 
ronmental data, provided that the data 
can be disseminated to other interested 
parties. The system data flow consisted 
of four major subsystems: (1) sensor 
data collection, (2) data transmission 
from the DCP to GOES, (3) data retrieval 
from GOES and storage by NOAA-NESS, and 
(4) dissemination and processing of re- 
trieved data. 

The DCP received and stored data from 
the various analog sensor data lines on a 
preprogrammed collection interval. Data 
transmission to the GOES satellite oc- 
curred on a specific NOAA-NESS allocated 



channel frequency in a self-timed trans- 
mission mode at 4-h intervals. The GOES 
satellite in turn transmitted to the CDA 
station ground equipment, which decoded 
the data and checked for errors. The 
data were then transmitted via condi- 
tioned leased lines to the DCS-DPS, which 
acted as a central data distribution fa- 
cility by storing the data in user queues 
and providing the user with interfacing 
for data requests. The user acquired the 
data from the DCS-DPS via a standard 
telephone link (fig. 22). 

Data from the DCS-DPS were reproduced 
as hard copy and manually reduced, until 
the programming for the automated data 
dissemination could be completed for the 
Chromatics GG1999 computer. Completion 



Data transmission from DCP 




GOES (East) 






^y 
















User site 

300-bps 

MODEM 

and data 

processing 

equipment 




1 


CDA 
and 

DCS- 
DPS 










1 

























@ Retrieval and @ Dissemination 
storage of data and processing of 
by NOAA-NESS retrieved data 



(T) Data collection from sensors 

FIGURE 22.— System data flow. 



32 



of this task allowed for data storage on 
8-in floppy disks from which graphs could 
be plotted in engineering units. 

Results 



Complete data and results of this study 
are described in more detail in the con- 
tract report (]_)• Although data collec- 
tion systems consisting of the DCP satel- 
lite and ground station receivers have 
been widely used to successfully monitor 
environmental conditions (rain, wind, and 
temperature) for flood control and on 
buoys at sea, their use for monitoring 
embankment instrumentation had never pre- 
viously been documented. Major findings 
included — 

1. The reliability of the system was 
very high. The DCP required no preven- 
tive maintenance, and trips to the site 
in the event of a failure were rare. 
Data transmission had an error rate of 
0.31%, mostly due to a duplicate channel 
frequency time slot assignment. Other- 
wise, the error rate would have been 
0.0635%. 

2. Though the initial cost of the sys- 
tem is high (table 6), it is still lower 
than that of the phase 1 system; also, 
the system is easier to operate and main- 
tain, and it requires neither power lines 
or' telephone lines into the site nor a 
building to house the DAS. Therefore, 
solar-powered data collection is a reli- 
able and cost-effective method to monitor 
sensors at a remote waste embankment 
site. 

3. Great care must be taken in select- 
ing the site sensors and placing them in 
the embankment. This appears to be the 
limiting factor in the use of this sys- 
tem, and the major reason for downtime 
and the limited amount of data collected. 
The tiltmeters, inclinometer, and piezom- 
eters were difficult to maintain over a 
long-term period, in part because these 
were electrical instruments working in a 



harsh environment and in part because the 
impoundment was in a continual state of 
construction and maintenance. 

RECOMMENDATIONS—PHASES 1 AND 2 

As a result of the data compiled in 
phases 1 and 2, there are five recommen- 
dations with regard to the overall system 
and its geotechnical instrumentation: 

1. The system should be flexible 
enough to accept a number of different 
sensor types. 

2. Further development in geophysical 
instruments is needed, specifically in 
inclinometers, tiltmeters, extensometers, 
and piezometers, to make them more reli- 
able, cheaper, and easier to install and 
maintain. 

3. A standard remote monitoring system 
applicable to coal and metal and nonmetal 
waste impoundments and embankments should 
be developed. 

4. Satellite data transmission should 
be investigated if more than 10 sites are 
to be instrumented. 

5. This method of remote data collec- 
tion could be used by MSHA, mining com- 
panies, or public utilities to centrally 
monitor the stability of one or more im- 
poundments. It would be most effective 
either in populated areas with high over- 
all precipitation rates or local periods 
of sudden extreme precipitation rates 
(hazardous situations), or In remote 
areas where travel to and from a site is 
difficult. The system could act as an 
early warning device by monitoring pres- 
sure changes and movements within an em- 
bankment caused by rising water levels. 
It would provide more frequent readout of 
coal waste impoundment stability and en- 
vironmental factors and would also aid in 
inspection and control of other dispo- 
sal sites such as metal and nonmetal 
waste embankments or even city reservoir 
impoundments. 



^^■■■^^^^■■i 



33 



TABLE 6. - Cost comparison of satellite and telephone data 
transmission (1984 costs) (7) 



Cost item 



Unit cost 



Number 
of units 



Total cost 



Satellite system: 

Data collection platform 

DCP hand terminal 

Environmental enclosure 

Yagi antenna 

Antenna cable 

Solar panels 

Power supply cable 

Batteries (100 A'h) 

Wattmeter and load coil 

Interface for biaxial sensors 

Total for satellite system 

Telephone system: 

Autodata 9 

Signal conditioner 

kC power conditioner and filtering with temper- 
ature sensor and delay 

AC power conditioner 

Anixter-pruzan metro tele PL1-2-2 I/F device... 

Autodialer 

Te lephone modem 

Power line installation and lease 3 

Telephone line installation and monthly mainte- 
nance cos t 1 * 

Trailer installation and monthly rental cost... 
Total for telephone system 2 



20- 



$3,725 
630 
220 
195 

55 
299 

28 

130 

250 

3,000 

NAp 

14,591 
4,320 

1,985 
439 
123 
167 
570 
NA 

100 
100 
NAp_ 



NAp 



$3,725 
630 
220 
195 

55 
598 

28 

260 

250 

3,000 



8,961 



NA 

112 
112 

NAp 



14,591 
4,320 

1,985 
439 
123 
167 
570 
NA 

240- 1,200 
1,200 



23,635-24,595 



NA Not available. NAp Not applicable 

112 months. 

2 Plus costs of power line installation and lease. 

3 In the case of this project this system was already in place; the 
was not included. 

^Costs can vary according to length of telephone lines and weather, 
feet maintenance needs. 



refore the cost 
which can af- 



SATELLITE IMAGERY 



A contract was awarded to Science Sys- 
tems and Applications, Inc. (2), to eval- 
uate the potential for using digital 
Landsat satellite data (fig* 23) for de- 
tecting active metal, nonmetal, and coal 
waste and tailings disposal sites to up- 
date acreage and land use information 
previously collected for mine waste em- 
bankment inventories (2). 



DESCRIPTION OF WORK 



Four mine waste disposal sites were se- 
lected: a Florida phosphate strip mine, 
an Arizona open pit copper mine, an Idaho 
underground silver mine, and a West Vir- 
ginia underground coal mine. The crite- 
ria for choosing these mine sites were — 



34 



Command's tracking 




Earth-based DCS 
sensing platforms 



telemetry, tracking data, 
payload video data 



NASA Landsat 
project otlice 



Remote ground 
receiving sites 



Goldstone (USB) 

NTTF (USB) 

Alaska (USB and VHF) 

Backup USB stations 

Backup VHF stations 



Orbit 



Commands 



DCS, TLM, 
TRK G 



determination 
■* 1 Command! 



N A SC O M 



DCS , TLM 



Ground data handling system 



Operations 
control 
center 



Image 

processing 

facility 



Payload video tapes mailed from Alaska 



and Goldstone or direct from NTTF 



EROS 
data center 



DCS 

EDC 

EROS 

G SFC 
MS S 

NASA 




KEY 

Data collection system 
EROS Data Center 
Earth Resources Observation 
Systems 

Goddard Space Flight Center 
Multispectral scanner 
National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration 
NASCOM NASA communications network 
NTTF Network Test and Training 

Facility 

Return beam vidicon 
Telemetry 
Tracking 
Upper sideband 
Very high frequency 



FIGURE 23.— Overall Landsat system. Source Landsat Data Users Handbook. (9) 



1. An active surface or underground 
coal, metal, or nonmetal mining operation 
producing more than 500 st ore per day. 

2. A diverse set of climatic condi- 
tions (wet, dry, moderate) because these 
could have different effects on the de- 
tectability of mine waste areas. 

3. Topography because of its effect 
on the size and type of disposal sites 
available to mining operations in differ- 
ent parts of the country. 

4. The ability to visit a selected 
site. 

5. Ease of obtaining aerial photogra- 
phy and accompanying Landsat data; these 
can be affected by cloud cover, sun 



angle, season, currency of the informa- 
tion, and how closely the dates could be 
matched for the two types of data. 

6. Availability of updated topographic 
maps. 

7. Availability of road maps. 

8. Availability of USGS orthophoto- 
quadrangle maps. 

Based on the site selection data, the 
chosen sites ranged from a valley fill in 
West Virginia to a flat diked embankment 
in Florida to a terraced embankment in 
Arizona. Other mine waste sites were 
also located nearby for signature exten- 
sion testing. This technique was used to 



MBMBM 



MM 



35 



check that the procedures used to study 
one site could be extended to other mine 
sites in the same locality. 

Selection of aerial photography and 
Landsat data was based on the image qual- 
ity of the data, the time of year, the 
time of day, and the degree of cloud cov- 
er. Most important was the need for re- 
cent coverage (after Feb. 1, 1979) be- 
cause of site changes at active mine 
locations. Also necessary was the avail- 
ability of at least same-year coverage by 
both aerial photography and Landsat, pre- 
ferably as close together chronologically 
as possible. 

EQUIPMENT AND PROCEDURES 

Digital data from the Landsat satellite 
multispectral scanner (MSS) and the Gen- 
eral Electric Co.'s IMALE-100 system in 
GE's Digital Image Analysis Laboratory 
(DIAL) in Lanham, MD, were used to deter- 
mine the capability of various image- 
processing techniques to monitor the 
waste sites. These techniques and clas- 
sification methods improve the visual 
appearance of the image and accentuate 
selected features. For this study, 
piecewise linear contrast stretching, 
edge and color enhancement, and normal- 
ized and simple ratio techniques were 
used. Means and standard deviation were 
obtained for the land-use categories 
(waste, water, active, inactive, re- 
claimed) by using the raw data, enhanced 
by two-dimensional axis rotation, Hada- 
mard transformation (HT), and principal- 
component analysis. Change detection 
techniques were used in the Florida phos- 
phate region to determine their useful- 
ness for noting changes occurring at the 
site during a specified time. 

Each test site had four or five land- 
use categories, depending on the nature 
of the tailings and the site itself. 
Data analyses then consisted of comparing 
the various land-use categories with four 
classification methods using means and 
standard deviation, pixel count and area 
estimates, a classification matrix (pixel 
count), and classification accuracy. 

The Florida phosphate mine waste test 
site was 40 miles east of Tampa, FL, in 
an area of extensive mining. Landsat 



scenes for February and December 1979 and 
aerial photos for January and December 
1979 were used to study an area of 7,607 
ha (fig. 24). 

The change detection studies used image 
differencing to note changes at the site 
(figs. 25-26). The greatest number of 
changes were noted in the active waste 
disposal areas in the expansion of dry 
waste areas and changes in the water 
areas. 

Table 7 shows the classification accu- 
racies of the methods used in studying 
the Florida phosphate mining site. From 
this table and from details given in ref- 
erence 2, it is evident that the HT meth- 
od can classify all the land-use catego- 
ries, but its accuracy was poor for the 
"active mining" category (51%) and only 
fair for the "waste" category (63%). Ex- 
cept for the "waste" category, the raw 
data method classified all categories 
with better than 50% accuracy. The prin- 
cipal component analysis method was more 
accurate for land-use categories other 
than "waste" and "reclaimed." 




Scale, miles 

LEGEND 

A Active P Processing plant 

BG Bare ground R Reclaimed 
H Waste water V Vegetation 
/ Inactive W Waste 

FIGURE 24.— Fort Green, FL, study area: derived from aerial 
photography. 



36 






1 


1 2 

l l 


3 

I 


Scale, miles 






LEGEND 




■ 


Changed areas 


□ 


Unchanged 


areas 



FIGURE 25.— Fort Green, FL, study area: automated change 
detection. 



Two tailings areas were studied at cop- 
per mines in Arizona: one at Hayden and 
one at Miami. A Landsat scene for July 
19,79 and aerial photos for April 1979 and 
February 1980 were used to study areas of 
500 ha at Hayden and 2,000 ha at Miami. 
The classification accuracy tables (table 
7) for each site showed that the overall 
accuracies for all classification methods 
were not very good. For the Hayden site, 
simple and normalized ratio methods 
worked best, while for the Miami site the 
raw data and HT methods were the best. 

The waste embankments from two Coeur 
d'Alene silver mines in Idaho were also 
used for this study. Data from these em- 
bankments were combined since one of the 
embankments was too small for individual 
analysis. Landsat scenes for June 1979 
and aerial photos for July 1980 and 
August 1977 created inconsistencies due 
to the large time interval between the 
dates. The most accurate method for this 
study area (table 7) was two-dimensional 
axis rotation; tailings and water were 




Scale, miles 

LEGEND 
H Changed areas 

Unchanged areas 

FIGURE 26.— Fort Green, FL, study area: manually inter- 
preted. 

the most inconsistently classified cate- 
gories owing to their spectral reflec- 
tance complexity. 

A West Virginia coal mine having a 9.7- 
ha, valley-fill waste embankment with a 
water impoundment was selected for the 
coal waste test site. Landsat scenes for 
July 1980 and aerial photos for April 
1980 were used for the study. The raw 
data method (table 7) was the most accu- 
rate classification method for this site. 

RESULTS 

Complete data and results of this study 
are described in more detail in the con- 
tract report (2) . The most significant 
factors were — 

1. No single automated digital image 
processing technique would work consis- 
tently and accurately at each site. The 
wide range of waste materials at a site, 
the use of processed wastes for construc- 
tion of roads and fill, color variations 






37 



TABLE 7. - Classification accuracy of methods used to study 
five waste areas, percent (2) 



Land-use category 



Raw 
data 



Sample 
ratio 



Normalized 
ratio 



2-D 
rotation 



Hadamard 
transform 



Princi 
nent 



pal compo- 
analysis 



FLORIDA PHOSPHATE MINING AND WASTE AREA 



Waste 

Water 

Active mining 

Inactive mining... 
Reclaimed 



21.0 
86.0 
55.9 
68.8 
86.9 



NAp 
NAp 
NAp 
NAp 
NAp 



NAp 
NAp 
NAp 
NAp 
NAp 



50.1 
94.8 
44.4 
63.2 




62.7 
75.9 
51.0 
81.1 
60.0 



49.1 
91.2 
66.1 
85.3 





COPPER MINING AND WASTE AREA, MIAMI -CLAYPOOL, AZ 



Light tailings. 
Dark tailings.. 
Waste rock...... 

Water 



67.9 
43.3 
26.7 
75.8 



41.3 
79.0 
12.2 
56.2 



40.6 
43.5 
49.5 
71.1 



66.8 
52.2 
14.8 
66.3 



67.3 
23.3 
45.1 
69.5 



71.7 

6.4 

22.4 

67.7 



COPPER MINING AND WASTE AREA, HAYDEN, AZ 



Dark tailings. 
Water 



55.6 


68.1 


64.5 


66.6 


60.0 


52.8 


72.9 


98.6 


100.0 


74.3 


75.7 


70.0 





IDAHO SILVER 


MINING AND WASTE AREA 






25.0 
77.1 
100.0 
70.1 
90.3 


81.6 
51.4 
78.3 
61.2 
80.8 


66.3 
62.9 
73.9 
67.2 
83.9 


85.2 
100.0 
84.8 
80.6 
95.1 


11.7 
74.3 
76.1 
59.7 
79.2 


74.5 


Slae 


97. 1 




78.3 
61. 2 




89.1 





WEST VIRGINIA COAL MINING WASTE AREA 






89.5 
88.9 


80.7 
66.7 


84.2 
55.6 


89.5 
66.7 


75.4 
55.6 


56. 1 




55.6 



NAp Not applicable. 



in the ponds and embankments due to the 
mining of different ores as well as vary- 
ing moisture content, and reflectance 
variance in the ponds themselves due to 
silting or depth all contribute to creat- 
ing a complex and dynamic environment. 
The subtle differences that result make 
it difficult to extend a signature from 
one mine site to another. 

2. It is not possible with current 
state-of-the-art digital processing tech- 
niques to inventory mine waste embank- 
ments on a national basis using satellite 
imagery. 



RECOMMENDATIONS 

Based on the results from this satel- 
lite imagery study, the following recom- 
mendations are made: 

1. Use of digital data from the ther- 
matic mapper in Landsat 4 could be more 
useful because the mapper has a higher 
resolution. 

2. Manual interpretation of enlarged 
Landsat images used in conjunction with 
auxiliary information might be a use- 
ful supplement to updating mine waste 
inventories. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



This report summarizes five contracted 
projects dealing with remote sensing of 
coal waste embankments. Three different 
forms of remote sensing were studied: 
aerial monitoring, remote data transmis- 
sion from in situ instrumentation, and 
satellite imagery. Aerial monitoring 



study 1 investigated the use of aerial 
photography and phot ogramme try on an 
actively moving landslide and on two 
coal embankments. Survey targets were 
installed on the moving face, and subse- 
quent photoreconnaissance measured the 
targets' movements. Aerial monitoring 



38 



study 2 investigated the use of survey 
targets installed off the embankment 
faces of 15 coal waste sites in West Vir- 
ginia and Kentucky. Placing the targets 
off the active areas of the embankments 
required more complex equipment and data 
analyses but protected the targets from 
incidental movement and destruction. 
Phase 1 of in situ instrumentation inves- 
tigated the use of internally emplaced 
instruments to monitor embankment con- 
ditions and transmitted the data by 
telephone to another geographic region. 
Phase 2 used the same internally instru- 
mented embankment but transmitted data 
through a satellite link to a receiving 
station which then could be accessed by 
telephone. Satellite imagery used digi- 
tal Landsat satellite data to evaluate 
active coal, metal, and nonmetal waste 
sites to update mine waste embankment 
inventories. 

In aerial monitoring study 1 it was 
found that the costs of such a monitoring 
technique were up to three times those of 
existing conventional inspections. How- 
ever, the benefits of having objective 
documentation, such as aerial photographs 
or photogrammetric maps, produced over a 
period of time could not be estimated. 
Because the targets were located within 
the area under study, they proved suscep- 
tible to incidental movement, damage, or 
loss. 

Aerial monitoring study 2 differed from 
study 1 in the placement of the targets 
and the mode of calculating movement. 
The targets were placed outside the area 
of interest, and computer-aided stereo- 
plotters were used to measure move- 
ment on the embankment. This protected 
targets from damage and loss due to inci- 
dental movement or construction activ- 
ity. The disadvantage of placing the 
target off the active area proved to be 
decreased visibility due to snow and 
growing vegetation. The cost of this 
technique was estimated to be 17% to 
30% higher than existing inspection 
costs. 

In in situ instrumentation, phase 1 
featured remote data collection by 



telephone. This project suffered numer- 
ous disruptions caused by local power 
failures and downed telephone lines. 
Cost estimates for such a technique, in- 
cluding internal instrumentation in the 
embankment consisting of 37 sensors, 
ranged from $144,174 for a manually read 
system to $213,015 for an automatic 
system. 

Phase 2 used the same internal instru- 
ments and embankment as phase 1, but the 
data were relayed via satellite to a re- 
ceiving station which was then accessed 
by the user via telephone. The solar- 
powered data collection platform, the 
satellite antenna, and the use of the 
satellite to relay data proved very 
reliable. Costs to install a satellite 
system equalled $8, 961, compared to 
$24, 595 for a telephone system. These 
estimates did not include costs for the 
system design and the embankment instru- 
ments or their installation, and access 
to the satellite was free. 

Mine waste location by satellite imag- 
ery was an ineffective means to update 
mine waste inventory data. At the time 
of the study, satellite sensors were not 
sufficiently sensitive to detect color 
changes due to differing mineral composi- 
tions at the various waste locations. 

The remote sensing techniques studied 
could be used to supplement existing mon- 
itoring efforts and to provide visual, 
historical documentation. Aerial photog- 
raphy can be used to characterize the 
overall conditions at the embankment sur- 
face (seeps, slumps, fire, drainage ef- 
fectiveness, etc. ). Use of aerial pho- 
togrammetry can quantitatively document 
surface movement over time. This could 
be especially useful in determining em- 
bankment creep or swelling, or in esti- 
mating volume. Internal embankment con- 
ditions can be closely monitored using 
in situ instrumentation (extensometer, 
piezometer, inclinometer, thermocouple, 
etc. ) in conjunction with the GOES satel- 
lite. It would then be possible to 
initiate internal embankment readings 
and to transmit instrument data whenever 
needed. 



REFERENCES 



39 



1. American Society of Photogrammetry 
(Falls Church, VA). Manual of Remote 
Sensing. V. 1-2, 1975, 2144 pp. 

2. Anuta, M. A., and 0. P. Bahethi. 
Mine Waste Location by Satellite Imagery 
(contract J0208030, Science Systems and 
Applications, Inc. ). BuMines OFR 134-83, 
1982, 100 pp.; NTIS PB 83-238519. 

3. Campbell, P. M. , and R. G. Almes. 
Modification to Existing Coal Refuse Dis- 
posal Facility, Lower Big Branch, Mont- 
coal, Raleigh Co., WV. D'Appolonia Con- 
sulting Engineers, 1978, 23 pp. 

4. Green, G. E., and D. A. Roberts. 
Remote Monitoring of a Coal Waste Im- 
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83-196584. 

5. MacCallum, D. H. , and M. J. Nestle- 
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Environmental Satellite Data Collection 
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49 pp. 

6. Meisher, R. A., and R. L. Hoffman. 
Improving Surface Coal Refuse Disposal 
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cago Aerial Survey). BuMines OFR 54-81, 
1980, 297 pp.; NTIS PB 81-215402. 

7. Prokoski, F. J. , J. T. Byrne, and 
D. J. Bryant. Satellite Monitoring for a 
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Energy, Inc. ). BuMines OFR 102-85, 1984, 
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8. Roth, L. H. , J. A. Cesare, and 
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Refuse Embankments (contract H0262009, 
CH2M Hill). BuMines OFR 11-78, 1977, 113 
pp. ; NTIS PB 277 975/AS. 

9. U.S. Geological Survey. Source 
Landsat Data Users Handbook. Revised 
edition, 1979. 



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40 



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